There is extensive literature on the safety and health benefits of DMG. Many studies have shown that DMG enhances the effectiveness of the immune system, improves the physical and athletic performance of humans and other animals (e.g. race horses) and has all in all a wide range of beneficial effects. It is very safe; no evidence has been seen of any toxic or significant adverse effects, with even taking massive intakes of DMG.
In 1965, two Russian investigators, M.G. Blumena and T.L. Belyakova, published a report showing considerable improvement in the speech of 12 of a group of 15 mentally handicapped children who had not been able to use speech to communicate. The children had been treated with a substance variously known as calcium pangamate, or pangamic acid, or "Vitamin B15" in addition to enriched vocabulary the children began to use simple sentences, their general mental state improved, and there was better concentration and interest in toys and games. Subsequent research has shown the essential factor in calcium pangamate to be DMG.
DMG is a metabolic enhancer, that is, it improves the function of several metabolic pathways, including those involving the immune system, the cardiovascular system, and muscle performance. Although excess DMG is converted by the body into energy, it appears that it's primary role in metabolism is to act as a key intermediary in the biological pathway that supplies the body with methyl groups. It maximizes the amount of energy produced for each molecule of oxygen consumed, and stimulates both branches of the immune system. DMG is an ergogenic nutrient that is, it helps produce energy and improve physical stamina.
DMG also acts as a detoxifying agent and antioxidant, protecting body cells from unwanted reactions caused by free radicals. Extensive animal and clinical tests have shown DMG to be a versatile normalizer of physiological functions.
The chemical structure of DMG is that of the amino acid glycine, in which two of the hydrogen atoms have been replaced by methyl groups.
Dr. Jerzy Meduski of the Nutritional Research Laboratory, at the University of Southern California's School of Medicine in Los Angeles, has studied the safety of DMG for more than five years. He concludes that DMG is perfectly safe when used as a dietary supplement. DMG is actually as safe as Vitamin C. In an animal study, Dr. Meduski found that consuming 1.85 grams of DMG per kilogram of body weight (equivalent to 130 grams for a 154 pound person) had no effect on blood pressure, breathing patterns, blood chemistry, oxygen intake, or body weight. At the same time, DMG was found to produce a measured increase in athletic performance and a decrease in lactic acid, the compound that forms in muscles and causes tiredness.
Many parents have reported that within a few days of starting DMG with their autistic child, the child's behavior improved noticeably, better eye contact was seen, frustration tolerance increased, the child's speech improved, or more interest in speaking was observed. An article in the New England Journal of Medicine (October 1982) reported that a 22 year-old mentally retarded man who had 16 to 18 seizures per week on standard anticonvulsants, experienced only three seizures per week while on DMG. Two attempts to remove the DMG dramatically increased seizure frequency.
If you are just starting out we suggest giving the DMG for 2-3 weeks and only then to start taking B6 and Magnesium. So that one shouldn't confuse the results by simultaneously starting other vitamins, drugs, or other forms of treatment that might make it difficult to tease out the effect of DMG from the effects of other things tried. However, if the child is already taking Vitamin B6 and Magnesium or anything else that is helpful, there is no reason to stop taking them. The DMG is merely a high concentrated food. It may in fact improve the effectiveness of the B6.
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Last updated: June 29th, 2002.
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